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J'. S. ORSES.

REFRIGERATGR.

APPLICATION FILED III/III. Il. 1919.

PII-Ifema@ May Ml WZL 8 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. S. FORBES. HEFRIGERATOH.

1,377,824. APPLICATION FILED MAR. II, I9I9. Patented May 10 1921.

8 SHEE. SH-SHEE 3.

J, S. FORBES.

REFRIGERTOR.

APPLICATION mfom/w11, ma,

mwm

J. S. FORBES.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAII. II, 1919.

Patented' May 10, 1921.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

es I

J. S. FORBES.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. II, 1919.

Patented May 10, 1921.

J. S. FORBES.

REFRIGERATOR.

.APPLICATION FILED MAR. II, 1919.

1,377,824. Patented May 10, 1921.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

[n Venfof" J. s. FORBES. REFmGEBAToR. APPLICATION FILED MAH. 1I. 1919.

Patented May 10, 1921.

8 SHEElS-SHEET 8.

fr? Mentor' fo/112 SIb/"bes /u's/zfor/fqs of the cells when these,

' ized by the ease and JOHN S. FORBES, UOIE PIXIILALDELIHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

aumentaron.

f specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 10, 1921.

`Applicationfiled March 11, 1919. Serial No. 282,012.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. Foniis, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented Refrigerators, of which the following isa specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a substantial, commercially practical form of household refrigerator whose detail construction .and arrangement of parts shall be such as to permit of its form and capacity being indefinitelyv varied, ,forv 'which purpose it is made to consist of a series of separably associated, functionally independent rlefrigerating cells ;-t'lie invention contemplating such an arrangement as will permit utilization of any desired fraction of the total capacity to the exclusion of the remainder with a 4corresponding decrease in the cost of operation as compared with that when all of the cells are employed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel foi'm of refrigerator which, by reason of the isolated cellular construction characterizing its fectually prevent the possibility of the material in one cellv in any way affecting that inany of the other cells ;-the invention further having'to'do with such an assemblage of parts as will permit Vjof the convenient and economical removal Y and replacement of one or anyde'sired number AAby reason of excessive use or in]ury, shall become" damaged or incapable of proper functioning.

'Another object of my invention is to previde a refrigerator cell especiallyadapted with otliei' similar cells for` of variable capacity, particularly characterits parts may be transported, ass embled and arranged to suit it for use within spaces of varying forms and dimensions, the invention contemplating 'an arranemgement of cell's of which certain may be made colder than others. .y

It is also desired to provide a refrigerator cell particularly adapted, by reason of its reversibility, for use in confined or otherwise inconvenient situations; the invention including a novel mounting for the ice containei as well as fa novel construction of i door and latching mean'stherefor.

elements, shall efconvenience with which Another obj ect of the invention is to provide a novel form of frame structure and -connecting means for holding Vtogether a number of independent refrigerating cells', so that these shall coact to form a unitary refrigerator having an ornamental appearance and so constructed as to permit of the convenient use of certain of its cells to @the exclusion of the others, with a resulting high degree of economy of operation.

These objects and other advantageous ends I attain as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1' is a perspective view of one form of my invention and showing the door of one of the cells open and the top retaining plate as detached from the body of the refrigerator for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section taken j.

from front to rear through one of the cells constituting part of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on 33, F ig. 2;

the line 'Figs 4. and 5 are fragmentary perspec` tive views of one form of separable holding device which may be employed for removably mounting the ice tank inthe refrigerating cell;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the base frame for the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1

AFigs.7 and 8 areperspective views'4 of baseframes for refrigerators having either one or -three tiers or series of cells;

Figs; 9'and 10 are perspective views of thebase frames shown in Filgs? and 8;. V,

ig. 11 is a perspective view of the. tie

structure employed for connecting the 0pposite sides of the base frame shown inVv Fig. 8; rods usedto connect the sections of the top plate;

Fig.l 13 is an elevation of one of the intermediate sectionsjor use' with the parts of the tie rod shown in Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary longitudinal section illustrating one form of connection for `the sections of the tie rod;

section of Y one en `through one of 'the top plates for such refrigerator structures as would employ is an elevation of one of the tie Y Fig. 16 is a fragmentary front elevation partly in section, illustrating certain detail features of my `refrigerator;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary plamof the struc# ture shown in Fig. 16;

Fig. 18 is a fragmentary perspective of part'of one of the refrigerator cells, showing thel preferred construction for permitting it to be connected with a second similar cell or with the base frame or top plate; Fig. 19 is a perspective view of a form of dowel which may be used to hold together the various parts. of my refrigerator;

Fig. d20 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a slightly modified form of cell vframe Fig. 21 is an elevation partly in section, illustrating a slightly modified form of refrigerating cell, together with a modified form of cell-connecting device;

Fig. 22 is a perspective view ,of one form of bracket or 'tie plate for holding the cells of two series from lateral separation;

Fig. 23 is a perspective view of one of the retaining. collars for the reception of two superposed lugs in the modified form of cell construction shown in Fig. 21;

Fig. 24 is a horizontal section on the line 24-24, Fig. 21.;

Fig. 25 is a vertical section on the line 25-25, Fig. 21; Fig. 26 is a fragmentary vertical section similar to Fig.l25 showing a modified form of cell cooling device;

' Fig. 27 is a fragmentary elevation, partly in vertical section, illustrating another modification of the invention;

Fig. 28 is a vertical section on the line 28-28, Fig. 27;

Fig. 29 is a fragmentary horizontal vsection on the line 29-29, Fig. 27;

Fig. 30 is a front elevation of another modified form of refrigerator cell;

Fig. 31 is a plan of the cell shown in Fig.` 30;

Fig. 32 is a central vertical section on the line 32-32, Fig. 30; and

Fig. 33 is a horizontal section on the line 33 33, Fig. 32. l

In the above drawings, 1 represents the supporting base of my refrigerator and this in its simplest form, may consist merely of two end sections 2 and 3, as shown in Fig. 7. These sections together form an open rectangular frame having feet at its corners and they are rigidly connected by bolts passing through two pairs of abutting flanges 4 respectively depending from the adjacent or coacting ends of the frame sections. In the particular case illustrated in Fig; 1 I have shown the refrigerator as including two tiers of independent refrig erating cells,' so that the base of Fig. 6 is required, that of Fig. 7l being used when tions 2 and 3.

thle refrigerator includes but a single tier ofce ls.

To suitably support the two tiers of cells I providezthe frame shown in Fig. 7 with similar front and back vextension pieces 6 of angle section and eachv having depending flanges -4-. at its ends whereby it may be rigidly connected to the ends of the sec-- ,Obviously any number of pairs of these maybe used' to' provide a base for a refrigerator'whose body is made up of more than two series or tiers of cells.

The body of the refrigerator consists of any desired number of complete independent refrigerator'cells 5 arranged in vertical series of tiers and so made that while they are firmly held together to-` constitute a un1- tary structure, any one or more of them may be removed andl replaced' without injury to any of the others or interference with its functioning. l

For holding the various series of cells in the desired relative positions, I form projecting pins or lugs 7 on the base sections and provide complementary recesses 8 in the adjacent portions of the cells 5 and where said cells rest upon each other I employ pins or dowels 9 which extend into the recesses of thel top face of the lower cell 'and enter the similar recesses in the bottom face of the superposed cell. As shown in F 1 the recesses may be formed in the reinforcing bands 20 or the latter may be pressed out to provide lugs in which said recesses are punched or dulled.

For covering and protecting the top of the body of the refrigerator and at the same time to assist in holding its cells from lat-v eral separation, I employ a top plate formed of a suitable,number of flat sections 10 and 11, of which those forming the ends 1() of the plate are similar and of a length substantially equal to one-half the transverse width of one cell. In the case of F ig. 1, which has two series intermediate plate section 11 is' necessary and this has a length double that of one of the sections 10. For each additional tier or series of cells an extra intermediate cover section would be required, together with two additional intermediate base vsections 6. When two or more pairs of these base sections 6 are necessary, I preferably support and tie them together by a cross member consisting of a tie bar having feet 13 and shaped to bc bolted or riveted to the fianges 4 of the base sections. In order to further brace the several tiers or vertical series of cells against lateral separation I place a plate 57 between each two pairs of su erposed cells and form it with holes for our dowelpins 9 which position said lcells.

If but a single tier of cells 5 is employed of cells, a single ,l of an inner casing j surrounding but spaced away from the same,l

`additional is made up of the two end sections 10, which are'rigidly connected by .long bolts 14, embedded in and eending through them across the refrigerator, and each of these boltsy is made in -two parts which screw together. When, as in the case of the structure of Fig. 1, the refrigerator is two cells wide and' requires one intermediate cover plate 11, each bolt is made up of the 4two end sections shown in Fig. 12, and an intermediate section 15, Fig. 13, which is suitably formed to' be screwed tojthe "same as illustrated in Fi'g. 14. Similarly a greater number of cover plate sections may be likewise connected and rigidly held together by the employment of intermediate boltv sections as shown in Fig. 15. ln any case the complete cover plate is held inplace over the top of the refrigerator body by the pins or dowels 9 which are carried by the uppermost cell or cells and enter suitably placed recesses in,

said plate. i

In accordance with the preferre/dform of my invention, each of the refrigerator cells consists of a box or container of generally rectangular section (Figs. 2 and 3) formed 16 and an outer casing 17 g -with a Ifilling material 18 in the space beplates tweensaid casings. This material consists of a substance having poor heat conductivity, such as mineral wool, dia-tomaceous earth, spun glass, etc., and the twocasings are referably made of metal having the requisite stiifness and covered or suitably surfaced with protective and sanitary material such as enamel, though they may be made of porcelain, glazed earthenware or like substance without departing from my invention. The outer casing is encircled by stiff reinforcing bands 19, 19a and 20, arranged in pairs at the front and back of the cell, one band of each pair being mounted within the casing and the other being on the outside thereof, in line or overlying the inner band. The recesses for the dowels 9 are preferably formed in the outer one of the bands of each pair and both of the\latter may be fixed in position by any suitable means, as by riveting or welding.

The inner band 19tL at the front end of the cell is'inwardly flanged and on one side is formed to receive' a pin or pintle for the hinge of a closure or door 21 formed by two spaced and suitably connected sheets or tween them filledwith the same non-conducting material as that between the casings 16 and 17. This door has a ring or strip of packing 24 set in and kpositioned upon its inner face for engagement with the adjacent flat face of the front end of the cell and it is so supported by or upon its hinge as to be free to adjust itself relatively tov the cell body so as to form a sealed or substantially 22v and' 23 having the chamber/bel i -mit said door to swing or turn on its `pivot as well as yield in order that its packing ring 24 may come to ,a'full continuous bearing upon the adjacent face of the cell so as to rovide a substantially hermetic seal.

n order -to firmly press and yieldingly ,maintain the door in its sealed position I provide a spring strip 28, fixed at one end to the plate 26 and passing through a bracket 29 mounted at or adjacent the center of the outer face of the-door from which it extends to a point adj acentthe free side of said door where it has pivoted to it a hooked handle 30. The turned over end of the latter is slotted for the reception of a hook 31 mounted on the adjacent face of the casing encircling band 19a and the long arm of the handle (Fig. 3) is turned outwardly to permit it to .be easily grasped. Said handle is so combined with the spring strip 28 as to normally tend to move into the position shown in dotted lines, so that when it is pulled outwardly to release it from the hook 31, the door is swung into a partially open position after such release, the act of pulling outwardl on the handle to open the door thus serving to fr ee it from the hook as well as to swing it toward the open position. At the same time, when the handle is engaged with the hook 31, the packing ring is tightly engaged with the face of the cell body for its entire length and the chamber of the latter thereof, for which purpose p said tank has on its outer face forked brackj ets or equivalent members 35 (Fig. 4). The preferred form of tank is flat and of generally rectangular outline and it has a cover 36 preferably tight fitting. The side walls of the inner casing 16 of the 'cell are formed withifa number of horizontal ribs 37 on which may be supported shelves or trays 38.

Withthe above described arrangement and construction of parts it will be seen that I may utilize any desired number of the separate and independent refrigerating cells to build up a single unitary refrigerator whose capacity shall be dependent on such number-and whose base frame and cover plate4 are assembled to l,suit the particular form and capacity required. The cells are arranged in vertical series or tiers held together and firmly supported as described and it willbe noted that not only the number ofthe tiers of cells may be varied to secure any desired capacity, but the 'number of cells in each tier or series may likewise be altered to provide a refrigerator elongated either horizontally or vertically.

Under conditions of use one of the vital advantages of my invention is'due to the fact'tha y one of thev cells may be put in service, its tank filled with ice and lits co\n tents removed and replaced without in any way affecting any of the others of thecells,

thus insuring that a substance or body in one cell cannot in any way ,affect the materials in the other cells. f Moreover, since it is thuspossible to use certain cells to the exclusion of others, it is possible to place all of those materials which are frequently desired for use in a cell situated in a position in the refrigerator where vit may be most conveniently opened and utilized. while the other cells need not be vopened at such short intervals. `As a consequence, there is a mae terial economy in the amount ofA ice required since but a relatively smallfraction of the cold air in the refrigeratorescapes when one cell is opened andthe temperatureof` air and materials in the remaining cells is not affected. By reason of the construction described it is possible to reverse the position of certain or all of the cells by turning them on a horizontal axis through an angle of-180 so that the doors will'open oppo' sitely to that shown and thus adapt' the' refrigerator for use inl a position where it would ordinarily be impossible to open said doors. Obviously any cell may be Yiced independently of the others in which for' any reason the rate of melting is different and incasel it should be desirable to change thef capacity of the refrigerator, this may be done with the utmost ease by adding to or subtracting from the number of its' cells.

.If byA reason of the cooling of the air in the cells there should be formed a vacuum which would prevent vthe easy opening of the doors, I may provide-a passage I99 through the latter and normally close this as long as the door is closed by means of the cap 97 carried-on`aspr1ng strip 98 mounted on the spring member 28 sothat by the outwardv movement of the latter occurringwhen the handle is drawn outwardly,l the-cap is' forci bly pulled from, overv the lopening lto the passage 99 and airis admitted to the cell thereby breaking any vacuum.

In'Figs. 21, 24 and 25 .I have illustrated refrigerating cell whose detail construction is slightly different from that shown` in the preceding igfures, particularly in so far as the construction of its dooror closure is concerned. lIn this instance the inner rcasor lip 41- s'o placedr as to extend. around or the suitably formed hinge member 47 on the cell body. Also projecting outwardly from the door plate'44 are two pins 48 vertically above and below the connecting bolt 45 and these extend loosely through the hinge member 46 between which and the plate 44'is mounted a fiat spring 49 tending to press Irapart the door body 42 and the hinge member 46. e i' The periphery of the' outer portion of the door plate 44 is suitably iianged and turned upon itself to provide a holder for Aan annular body of packing 50 so positioned asto engage the lip or rib 41- on the cell body, when the door is moved to its closed position. As before the engagement of this packing with the cell body in such manner as -to-form a substantially hermetic seal is insured' by reason of the yielding connection between the hinge member 46 and said door, lfor when the latter is moved to its closed position it is free toA adjust itself to bringr the packing for its entire length into engagef ment with thecell body. In this case I form the hinge member 46" with a lat extended 1portion on which is sli ably mounted a l latchor bolt 51 designed to engagea keeper 51"l on the front face of the cell body. This 54. One edge-of this. recess is toothed as l l indicated at 55 so as to coact with the .pinion, with the result that when the latteris rotated by aJ turning of the handle the latch 51 1s `moved longitudinally A011 said extension into or out of engagement with the keeper 51a.

From Fig. 24 it will' be noted that the outer end of the latch is preferably beveled or inclined in such manner that its point oredge is just able vto enter the recess of the keeperv51a when the door is held shut with 'itspacking 50 engaging the rib 41. Thereafter if the latchv 51 be forced outwardly by further .turning of the harfdle 52, its inclined face in entering the keeper `forces the door farther toward or more closely into engage-L ment with the rib or lip 41, thus insuring a tight. joint therewith. In this form of my invention I have shownthe outer casing 17 of the cell as having but two reinforcin bands 5,6 and 57 encircling its front` and back portions and welded or otherwise'fixed to saidcasing;

The dowels orl'u'gs for preventing lateral displacement of the, cell when combined with its base structure 'and with other cells are illustrated yWelded to the outer caspositioning the outer portions of these cells relativeljfto each 6() are provided-and these have a height equal:

other, collars or bushings to that of the tubular vportions of the lugs 59 and like them 'each is-designed to receiveV the two vertically alined'dowel projections 9a of a. pair of'superposed cells. s

Instead ofV supporting the ice receiving tank on the door, it may in some cases be formed yas a flat box container 61 having a Y cover 62 and designed to be -slidably supported by a pair of opposite shelf .ribs 37 within the top of the vcell chamber, there being a handle 63 on its outer end for facilitating its manipulation. Obviously without departing from my invention, such la cooling device as that shown in Fig. 26 may be substituted for the ice tanks of the 'other forms of said invention and in suchcase I mount at the back of each cell chamber a hollow plate or fiat vertically placed container 64 having through it a tortuous channel or passage vand provided at its top and bottom with inlet and ,outlet pipes 65 and "66 through which brine or other cooling agent may be caused to fiow. Suitable means are provided whereby tight joints are provided between the refrigerator body and the cooling element 64 or pipes 65 and 66.

In Figs. 27 to 29 I have shown, another and relatively less expensive form of refrigerating cell also adapted for combination with' anyA desired number of other similar cells to provide a unitary refrigerator having the characteristics above described. In this case the inner casing 67 is shown as made of thin cast iron projected at the front end of the cell in the form of a sealing lip 68 and outwardly flanged, the outer casing 69 being preferably formed of wood -reinforced at theA front and back by encircling bands or strips 70 and 71. Between the two casings heat insulating material such as diatomaceous earth, asbestos, spun glass or the like is packed and the door, which as before is hinged to a member 72 so as to have limited relative movement, carries an ice tank 73 removably held in place and designed to be filled through ture 7 L1. This opening is normally closed tightly by a plugor cover 75 which upon removal permits of the introduction of ice to the tank 7 3 without opening of the door and' the cool air from the cell. The

escape of the door before 1s vmevaby body of through lthe door an opening in said door struc- I mounted on a hinge member 76, having an extension 77 perforated for the reception of a hook 7 8 on the cell body and the latter is designed to be engaged by a" cam 79 on a rotary handle 80 to cause the flat face of the doorto form a substantially hermetic seal with a body of packing 81 confined between the flange of the casing 67 and an inwardly extending flange on one of the encircling bands 82 of the body itself.

If it be desired to utilize the water in the ice tank 73 for drinking purposes, I provide an outlet pipe 83 extending through the door 74into the bottom of said tank which is. f'

Y removably held in place by a nut 84 thread- 4in that portion of its face which comes adjacent 4the fiat end or front of the cell body. A sheet metal structure 92 is so mounted on the 'inner face of the door as to form an ice tank, which as before projects into the chamberor hollow of the cell andwhich, as in v'the case shown in Figs. 27/to 29, is designed tol bel-supplied with ice through an opening in the upper part of the door, which opening is -normally closed by a rlid or cover 7 5. As inthe case shown in Figs. 2 vand 3, the door is hung from a hinge member 93 pivoted to a second hinge member 93a carried by thebody', the parts being suitably curved to suit them for coperation with the spherically curved door. Y t

A drainage or outlet pipe 911 leads from the lower portion of the ice tank, and has its outer endv normally closed by i1-screw cap 95 which may be removed`wheri it is desired to draw off .the water. In this form of the invention I have shown the top and bottom faces of the cell body' as having recesses 96 for the reception of the positioning dowel pins 9, and obviously this form of cell, like/the others illustrated, is especially adapted for combination with any other number of similar cells to provide a unitary refrigerating apparatus characterized however by the possession of a number of refrigerating chambers each provided with its independent cooling means which in .this last instance, is designed to be supplied with ice through an opening in the door without permitting escape of cool air chamber.

iro I If thereshould be a collection of'water upon and a-dripping from the ice tanks33 owing to the condensation upon them of moisture from .the air I may provide a pan 33a supported inv any desired manner as from the tank itself in Which4 such Water may collect and from which it may be emptied or drained when necessary;

I claim :VV v

1. A refrigerator consisting of a series of structurally independent complete refrigerating units having substantially similar opposite faces adapting them for varied relative arrangement vertically and horizontally and each having independent cooling means, f

theL normally exposed exterior of the unitarystructure formed by a group 'of said -units being made up of the directly exposed outer surfaces Aof the units themselves.

2. A refrigerator consisting of a series' of having an opening with a sealing c1osure,

said containers having substantially similar opposite faces adapting them for inversion and varied relative arrangement vertically and horizontally; means for holding'said containers together in a unitary structure,l with their openings all in the same plane;

--and a separate cooling device for each of version when it is required to alter the direction in which its door shall open.

The combination in a refrigerator of a base structure of relatively low height; a series of functionally independent refrigerating closed cells mounted on .said base structure and having similar'opposite faces adapting said cells for inversion and ready interchange of position, (said cells beingv separably connected one to the other and their comblned outer Walls formingl theexterior of the unitary refrigerating structure; and an independent cooling device for each cell.

6'. A cas'eless refrigerator having a separable basefmember of relatively low height and a plurality of structurally .independent refrigerating units each having its own icing chamber and door controlled inlet, said yunits having substantially similar opposite faces permitting theunits to bevinverted and assembled in different relative positions. vertically and horizontally. Y

In Witness whereof I aiix my si ature.

JOHN s. FOR Es. 

